DFMB derivatives are raw materials for an important new class of drugs, notably pharmaceutical intermediate and as potential anti HIV-1 bioactive.
WO2008032064 discloses a process for preparing DFMB (2-difluoromethyl-1H-benzimidazole) used as a starting material of pyrimidine derivatives or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. It describes on page 99 of the description a process to produce DFMB in toluene with a yield of 77%, without the use of catalyst, at 87° C. and 41 h.

However, the process disclosed in WO2008032064 requires toluene as solvent and needs a very long reaction period, which is not environmental friendly and needs a relatively high cost. Therefore, there is still a need to develop a new process for preparing DFMB derivatives in the absence of aromatic solvent with a low cost.